Category Archives: Village History

Our little town celebrated its 275th anniversary today with an old-timey parade that included a battalion of children carrying balloons representing apples, numerous antique cars, tractors, the high school marching band, organization and neighborhood floats, the usual array of dignitaries … Continue reading →

Watching the Fourth of July parade pass along Main Street in Bolton last year. This antique house along the parade route dates to within a few years of the founding of the country. It was built around 1780 by Joseph … Continue reading →

Bolton, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town on June 24, 1738. That means that on June 24, 2013, or exactly 2 years from today, our town will be 275 years old. Sounds like a good excuse for a party to … Continue reading →

Deborah Sharon Kellett, long-time resident of Main Street in the center, died on April 29, 2011. She was born Sept. 22, 1944. For many years she was active in the Bolton Historical Society. She was also a member of the … Continue reading →

Many Bolton residents, going all the way back to 1795, have climbed the steeple stairs each week to wind and tinker with the old town clock. Some of the more recent caretakers have signed the walls in the clock room— … Continue reading →

Intrigued by the town budget line item requesting $200 for “Clock Winding” (see Part I), I wanted to see the old town clock for myself, and Bob Johnson was kind enough to take me up into the steeple of the … Continue reading →

The Advisory Committee was not fooling around at their last meeting. It is town budget season, the most challenging budget season in years, and the good folks on the committee were chomping through funding requests like a combine working a … Continue reading →

The old houses and buildings sit snug along the curving road: a 1741 Georgian, a 1750 Colonial, an 1810 Federal, an 1839 Greek Revival. In all, there are nearly 60 historically significant structures along the mile of Main Street between … Continue reading →

With hurricanes on our minds these days, I thought it would be fun to take a brief look back at “The Great Hurricane of 1938.” The photos are presented courtesy of the Bolton Historical Society, our town’s wonderful, under-appreciated gem. … Continue reading →

BOLTON, 1893 This extraordinary essay about Bolton in the 1890’s is excerpted from the book, The Locomotive-God, by William Ellery Leonard (1876-1944), published in 1927 by Century Company. Leonard was a poet, playwright, and scholar. He was the son of The Rev. … Continue reading →